Top 5 top tech trends for 2012 in the Philippines

It’s the start of the year and you might be wondering what’s in store for us from the IT industry in 2012. Will there be a new breed of computing device that will change how we perceive computers? Like the netbooks a few years ago or tablets last year? What will the mobile phone industry look like this coming year?

Allow us to share to you what we think are the top 5 tech trends this coming year here in the Philippines.

Rise of the Ultrabooks

The Ultrabooks are super thin, light, and powerful with decent battery life notebooks. We saw a teaser of what Ultrabooks are capable of, their design, and price in the last quarter of 2011.

Expect for manufacturers to kick it up a notch by introducing newer design or more affordable configurations for Ultrabooks this year. A decent Ultrabook at 40k or under would entice a lot of users to switch from a regular laptop or netbook to one of these sexy beasts.

Tablets and smartphones continuity

Sadly I’m not foreseeing any new innovations or features when it comes to tablets and smartphones. Instead, companies will just continue to extend and enhance their current lineup.

What a lot of people are expecting is the emergence of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich devices and Nokia’s Window Phones. The most interesting is Android 4.0 because it will force manufacturers to push for dual-core processor devices. Maybe we’ll be seeing affordable dual-core Android phones this year and with that, really cheap entry-level smartphones. More Galaxy Y variant from all manufacturers perhaps?

In the case of tablets, the upcoming iPad 3 should be interesting while we’re going to see even more new Android tablets in all shapes and sizes.

Windows 8

Microsoft’s Windows 8 is expected to be released this year. We’ve seen the beta a few months back and the large-scale Metro UI looks to be a really nice fit for tablets. Unlike Android’s issues with fragmentation, Windows 8 can easily interface with Windows Mobile phones so we’ll probably be seeing Windows-based tablets and phones to be a seamless extension of your desktop/laptop.

Getting into the Cloud

Probably the major factor hampering the use of cloud computing in the Philippines is bandwidth (which is also the source of other tech-related problems) but with Apple’s introduction of the iCloud late last year, more people would see the value of doing common tasks online.

I still see a lot of people are not aware that they can create/edit Word and Excel files online with just their browser. Dropbox is immensely popular with smartphone users and we’ll see more features built into it with their Automator which allows you to automate tasks whenever you upload files. We’ll probably see cloud computing become more popular not only to consumers but also to the enterprise.

Emergence of NFC applications

NFC or near field communications is like Bluetooth but made easier and more secure. NFC-enabled devices can communicate with each other by just being near one another. We’ve seen this feature in Nokia smartphones, new BlackBerries, and the Samsung Galaxy S2 just to name a few.

Right now, the only application we’ve seen is pairing Nokia phones to NFC-enabled speakers and headphones but this year, newer application for the technology could crop up. We could probably see NFC applications for gaming, file management and to what I think the best use of NFC is”¦ mobile payment. Want to pay for gas? Just tap your phone onto an NFC scanner and key in your secure code. I do hope we could see Google Wallet here in the country.

Conclusion

Of course, some of these are just speculations based on news that we heard in 2011 but still they’re pretty much what we’ll have for 2012. Sadly, I’m not seeing any innovations when it comes to photography. It’s been stale since 2 years ago when micro 4/3rds came out. Same with gaming, Microsoft Kinect was awesome last year and I’m not seeing anybody topping that this year. Augmented reality perhaps but it’s still a long way.

I wish they’d get tablets and smartphones to last a whole week even under regular usage. Heck, I’d even go for 2 days. Without having to get off 3G all the damn time. I’d hate having to carry around a charger or portable battery pack all the time.

Edsar

oo nga noh? tinawag na portable pero hassle naman dalhin.

Griswold

yep same here… i hope smartphone battery life could go longer. i don’t think they can do much with the processor in terms of lowering power consumption so i hope it’s a new battery technology that would increase the rating in the same packaging.

JmBalicano

And to think they’re coming out with 2.+ Ghz processors for mobiles. It’s funny how gadget makers tend to tack on feature after feature but forget about boosting battery life. 3G already sucks battery. What if LTE and other 4G internet speeds became more prevalent here in the Philippines?

LTE really sucks the crap out of batteries. the lte dongle we’re testing is bad for laptops outside a power outlet range.

thejorlanb

guess what, the iCompany-Apple- is busy providing the best solution for this.

JmBalicano

And the plans! As fast as the speeds can get, you’ll easily eat through your cap in no time!

JmBalicano

I just saw the Noontec PowerMe 9000 on YugaTech. It has a rating of 9000mAh!! The thing’s so big, it probably outweighs my tablet! Is this fate? I feel its call.. Wait a minute.. If I get a Galaxy Note, pair it with a Bluetooth keyboard and this mother of a power pack, I’d still be carrying the equivalent weight of a netbook. Damn it all to hell..

hehe same here… can’t find anything about it. for sure it’s an OEM product but i just don’t know what the original model is called. haven’t seen it in actual nor used it so i really can’t say anything about it sorry.

apparently MSI made an Android tablet too! and it’s at 12k. costs more than that tablet, but well at least MSI is a known brand.

Onnie

The price and specs of toggler are quite enticing. But I think it would be wise to let it pass for now since it is virtually unknown and the support is still questionable. Let’s see how it will perform with the first hand users. 🙂

The good thing about this is that the price of tablets is starting to go down. If toggler is proven to be a good one, It is possible the price of other branded models will also start to go down due to stiff competition.

Aiden

Cloud computing just now? And just because of Apple introducing iCould? Heck, I’ve been using Google Docs, Calendar and other Google Apps for more than 4 years ago and I’ve already got the services the iCould is still working on.

yeah… just because of the iCloud. a lot of non-techy people will now know about cloud just because of Apple’s iCloud.

Teabag Deluxe

With our country’s crappy internet service, I doubt cloud usage will go up by much. I can’t even get a decent 3G signal from any provider at home, and PLDT is saying that they are already oversubcribed in my area – and I live in a well-known subdivision down south.

wonder how windows 8 will stand up against iOS and honeycomb/ics? im a fan of metro ui and im just waiting for a few months to buy a wp7 so i can get rid of my android phone 😀

Jeraldo

and oh. more affordable plans from network providers and more wp7 offerings.

freddie

Hi Calvin,

I just want to know your insights regarding Ainol Novo Paladin 7 tab. I saw from Widget City’s FB page the other day that they’re selling this tablet come January 12. Is this brand okay? I’m planning to use this as a portable media device/ebook reader/light games. Hoping for a reply here! Thanks in advanced!